Oh! Okay. Well that makes more sense. I didn't factor in initial setup cost.

Let's see what I've spent so far...
Gus (Betta): $4
Betta water (pretreated water for him to sit in until his tank was ready): $3-4
Setup (tank, plant, filter, gravel...) $30
Tetra AquaSafe: $4
Tetra EasyBalence: Given to me, but I think it is $4
Food: $8 (will eventually get bloodworms, but has to buy pellets to keep waste down)
Marimo Ball: $8
Toast and Boo (Ghost Shrimp): less than $1
Seashell (for shrimp to hide in): $3
Heater: $14
API Amonia and pH testing kits: $15
Turkey Baster: $1

Info
My tap water worries me because of how the PetSmart tests came back. It is well water, it does not stain sinks, and it has no softener or aditives. The results were...
pH: 6 or less
Alkalinity: 40 mg/l
Hardness: 25 mg/l
I added 8 pieces of corse ground sea salt after my major water change to adjust the pH. After 1 day, the water tested at pH 6-6.2. Alkalinity and Hardness are unknown as those tests were not bought. Day 2 tested at 7.2-7.3pH. Amonia has been holding at 0-0.25. I have been doing a pwc of 1 litter a day and adding 1 granual of salt to every other pwc.

Yesterday, I recieved a bottle of Tetra Easy Balance. I added 4-5 drops with the pwc water. The tank has a water volume of about 1.4gal. I tested today and got a pH reading of 7.6 or more! My water is clear.

Questions
1. Was it the sea salt or Easy Balance that caused my levels to spike?
2. How can I keep my pH neutral/stable?
3. Am I using the right water conditioner for my water? (Tetra AquaSafe)

While I'm posting anyway, I wanted to let yall know that Gus loves his new roomies. They all get along famously. Toast is the little explorer and loves to play with Gus. I have even seen him swimming in the middle of the tank and climbing the plant! Boo is just now starting to "come out of his shell" so to speak. He will now go with Toast on top of the Marimo ball, but is still content to hide most of the day. They aren't afraid of him or me either! Toast will even run up to me and pats my finger with his feelers.

The only thing they disagree on is what the Marimo Ball is for. The shimp insist it's for munching and lounging on while Gus believes it is perfect to play Marimo Bowling with! He likes to headbutt it in a corner and then wiggle it back out to do it again! He waits until they aren't on it, but still, they aren't that fond of it

Ack!!! The seashell! It's what made my tank spike! Just now figured it out after some excessive Googling. It's OVER the maximum on my pH test kit even after replacing 2 liters! I took it out and it has little pock marks from disolving in my little tank. Oh my God, this could have killed my fish, AND I BOUGHT IT FROM A PET STORE WITH INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE "FISH EXPERT"! Sorry for yelling, but I am beyond upset! Gus has had a rough life already. He doesn't need to go through this kind of abuse

Yeah, truthfully, pH isn't that important. most fish can adapt to a different pH as long as it isn't too far out of their preferred range. I believe they prefer to have a pH of about 6.8-7.2

Yep. Seashells (at least real ones) can cause the pH to spike. So, If you've already taken it out, I would recommend continuing with 1 water change a day, and I would keep adding a little bit of salt every day but stop using the easy balance for now. The reason for this, is we want the pH to drop slowly back down to a stable level. once it stops, check your pH and we can determine if it really needs to be brought up anymore or not.

As far as the water conditioner, I use the same thing. I actually prefer stress coat, simply because it works as a conditioner and as a stress coat. so it can help regrow fins and stuff too. :D As long as it removes ammonia and other harmful chemicals from the water (as aquasafe does.)